The First few days of Second Grade...

Breaking News...

     There's lots of fun and learning going on in room 207.  Our main focus in these first weeks of school are things like learning everyone's name, how to greet, where everything is located, appropriate times for various activities, expectations, etc.  At the beginning of the year we go slow in order to go fast later.

Academic Highlight

    In light of talking about expectations, we read the book, Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle.  It's a simple children's book with an expected theme that some might describe as, "Be nice."  When I first came across this book a number of years ago, I was surprised at the deep discussions I could have with my classes about what it says about how people treat each other and what we would like to be true in our classroom.

     Here's a picture of the sticky notes your kids made to indicate whom they would like to have as a classmate in our classroom (Little Blue Truck, Animals, or Big Yellow Truck).

 

     Later, we discussed as a whole group how the characters treated each other.  We talked about the evidence that someone was nice or not nice to another character.  Here's a picture of how we summarized that information.

 

     You can ask your child which character(s) they would like to have as a classmate.  They may have changed their mind after our discussion.

     On Friday afternoon I asked the kids how they might describe the first few days of second grade, here's what they said.

     "Super fun, terrifyingly hard (the first day), different--when we go to recess, very confusing (getting use to everything), a lot of explaining, super easy, first day I was very shy--then I got use to it" (many "me too's" for this last one).  Sometimes we forget how hard new situations can be, your kids are handling it well and are learning the second grade routines.

     Here are some pictures of what kids were doing during our Friday Choice time.

                    

     Enjoy the long weekend!

     Caren

A few details about Room 207

Our Specials/Encore Schedule 2019-2020

        

As you may or may not have heard, we are utilizing a "Four Day" schedule" this year.  It's different from what we have been doing, a "Monday-Friday "schedule, and will likely take a little getting used to.  I was on the scheduling committee this summer and am eager to see how the advantages of this schedule work out (and how difficult the drawbacks are).  
With a Monday-Friday schedule, the "Specials" that happen on a given school day, Art for example, happen depending on what day of the week it is.  In a Four Day schedule, the specials of Art, Music, and PE (twice in four days) take place depending on whether it is Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, or Day 4.  When we were doing the scheduling work this summer we referred to these "Specials" as "Encore."  I don't know if that word will be used school-wide or not.  Spanish and Chorus will still be on the Monday-Friday schedule.  I have yet to schedule Library and Computer Science, so I'll keep you posted about those.
I think the biggest impact for parents will have to do with knowing when your child needs to have sneakers for PE.  My recommendation is to keep sneakers at school so that your child/children are always ready.

Here's our schedule:

Day 1   PE                Spanish:  Wed, Thurs, Fri
Day 2  Music           Chorus:   Friday
Day 3  PE                Library:  to be scheduled
Day 4  Art              Computer Science:  to be scheduled

So for the first two weeks of school, this is how our specials/encore schedule will work:
Wednesday 8/28   Day 1    PE and Spanish
Thursday 8/29     Day 2   Music and Spanish
Friday 8/310           Day 3   PE, Chorus, and Spanish
Tuesday 9/3          Day 4   Art
Wednesday 9/4    Day 1    PE and Spanish
Thursday 9/5       Day 2  Music and Spanish
Friday 9/6            Day 3   PE, Chorus, and Spanish
Monday 9/9          Day 4  Art

Second graders have traditionally gone to library weekly.  They have a short teaching time and then check out books.  They can have 4 books for up to two weeks.  Two books stay at school and two can go home.  They start the year checking out just two books.  At the beginning of the year your child will be required to read with an adult before checking out any books.  We emphasize reading good-fit books and this is one of the ways we help kids learn how to tell if a book is good fit.  (More on that later).  Eventually, they will be able to check out three good-fit books and one choice book.  The choice book is not required to be good-fit.

Snack

Second graders need to bring their own snack to school.

Birthdays in Room 207

            You are welcome to send in a special snack on or near your child’s birthday.  I ask that you keep it simple.  Please have the snack be something that does not require a freezer, refrigeration, or teacher preparation (for example an ice-cream cake).  Your child should be able to pass it out with the help of another student.  We have birthday snacks at our regular snack time and the birthday snack is in addition to whatever else students have brought in for snack.

            If your child has a summer birthday we can celebrate a half birthday or pick the “date” of his or her birthday in May or June and celebrate on that day (for example a July 28 birthday could be celebrated on May 28).

After School Change of Plans/Absences

If at all possible, please send in a written note if your child is doing something different after school.  You can email me*, but please do that before the school day starts (the students and I get anxious if the email isn’t there when they get to school).  If your child will be taking a different bus or will be missing all or part of a school day, please cc Ms. Gwyn Dessert in the office.  That saves me a step and she’ll have any necessary bus passes waiting when your child gets to school.

School Day Start Time

            The bell rings at 7:55 am.  Second graders line up by grade at the main entrance.  Your child should be walking into the building with the class at that time.  This will give your child the time needed to do the settling-in chores and activities that are necessary before we start our morning meeting.  Please talk to your child about getting right to the classroom in the morning.

Take-Home Folders/Homework

            The Take-Home folders generally go home on Fridays and are expected back on Mondays.  When we start the Homework log, it is due on Mondays.  As I mentioned in the summer letter, if you could have your child bring in a picture (or two) of your family, that would be great.

*Email and Phone Contact

            I try to respond to emails within 24 hours.  I don’t always check email during the school day.  The best way to communicate about after school plans is to send your child in with a written note or email the day before (cc Gwyn Dessert and I’ll give you extra credit).  If your plans change during the day and you need to email me, I will send an email back during the day to let you know I’ve seen the email.  Otherwise you can call the school, in which case they will put the call through to the classroom.

            Let me know if you have other questions or concerns.  I'm eager to get the school year going!

                                                Best,

                                                            Mrs. Whaley

Summer 2018

Hello!

My name is Mrs. Whaley, and if you are checking out this blog maybe I will be your teacher (or your child's) in second grade (or maybe you're still subscribed from last year!).  I hope you are as excited about second grade as I am!  I have to admit though,  summer is my favorite season.  I love swimming, paddle boarding, and anything else that can be done in or around water.  I also enjoy all the extra time to read!

I'm eager to meet and get to know you.  Let me tell you a little bit about myself.  I grew up in (what you will come to know as) "the great state of Michigan."  It's one of the most recognizable states in America because it is shaped like a mitten.  

I have three kids, and actually they are not kids anymore.  My oldest son is Blake.  He's married to Leigh Ann, and he works at Amazon as a computer programmer.  Leigh Ann is a mental health counselor.  My daughter Cora just finished her second year of teaching second grade in Virginia.  My youngest son is Austin.  He goes to Colby Sawyer College and plays basketball there.  My husband works at Dartmouth College, so if your parents work there, maybe they know him.

I know you're going to love second grade.  Of course we have Colonial Day to look forward to--but that doesn't happen until June.  We'll have lots of fun and learning before that about science, the forest, biographies, reading, and math.

I hope you are enjoying summer and finding time to read almost every day.

Can't wait to see you in the Fall.  For your first homework assignment, please bring in a picture (or two) of your family.

We have an Open House on Tuesday, August 27th from 2:30-3:30, I hope to see you there.  The first day of school is Wednesday, August 28th.  Our classroom is number 207, look for the whales.

             Best,                                       

                                   

                    Mrs. Whaley